This is the story of Bess - flashing between her 16th birthday and her 53rd. Bess isn’t happy with her life and as we flash back we find out why. This is a great read, thoroughly enjoyed. .

I was so excited to get the chance to review this book. Amanda Prowse is one of my favourite authors, and no matter what she writes about, I always love it.

This book was particularly wonderful. It alternates between 1984 and the present day, it’s just so authentic and poignant. Bessie has her whole life ahead of her, and has the enthusiasm and ambition of youth. She’s 16 years old, and ready to start her exciting life. Fast forward to the present day, and a slightly more disillusioned Bess is who we meet, feeling just slightly unsatisfied with her lot. As the story progresses, we see how she got to where she is today, and the secret that she keeps is what really holds the key to it all.

There is an absolute rollercoaster of emotions to be had in this book. It’s genuinely laugh-out-loud funny at times, and it’s heartbreaking at others. The era of the 1980s really resonated with me, and it felt so authentic and so real. When we meet Bess in the present day, it seems that she has a lot to be grateful for, but when we find out more about her past, it’s understandable to see what’s missing in her life.

I absolutely flew through this book, I really couldn’t put it down. It was just like being immersed in someone else’s life for a while, the ultimate in engrossing reading. I laughed and cried, and went through it all with Bess. I can’t recommend this book enough, it’s one of her best so far. Absolutely captivating stuff.

I found waiting to begin a bit slow to start with and wondered where the book was going but as it progressed alternating between the past and present it made more sense!
Bessie as a 16 year old failing her exams, having underage sex and caught up in friendship woes, enters a pathway that will shape and influence her whole adult life, which comes to a head in her fifties on her birthday when realisation hits that the decisions made as a 16 year old are still having far reaching consequences now affecting her happiness, marriage and sense of self worth! Past secrets are revealed ,difficult conversations had and gradually with honesty ,time and support Bessie finds a new acceptance of who she is, her role within the family and ultimately a sense of happiness and fulfilment.
Thank you netgalley for this early read.

Waiting To Begin
Amanda Prowse

The story begins with Bessie and her brother Philip on a train journey which leads us through the story of how they got there.
It’s 1984 and there are lots of little nods to the era throughout the book, including leg warmers and dads saying things like dads do, ‘socks without feet? What’s the good in that?’
This book brought back so many memories, I smiled a lot. I could relate to the tone of voice used by parents to their child to let them know, there’s no wriggling out this time, you have to tell the truth!

The bonds of friendships and what those friendships feel like when you’re a teenager are prominent in the story and I found very relatable. The falling out with friends really is the end of the world.

The conversations that the characters had and looks that were given between them all were so easy to imagine in my head, I felt I almost knew them.
Equally I cried bucket loads at this story, I was so wrapped up in the characters and the family I couldn’t not cry!

The book is filled with beautiful and tragic moments and as usual this author has enthralled me 100%
If you have enjoyed other books by Amanda Prowse I really think you will love this.

Another fabulous novel by Amanda Prowse. This time we meet Bessie and her family, the chapters alternate between 1984 and 2021. In August 1984 Bessie is celebrating her 16th birthday, getting her o level results and looking forward to her school dance and meeting up with her boyfriend. In August 2021 Bessie turns 53, married with two grown up children, she feels her life is missing a huge part of what happened in 1984. A heart rendering story that I couldn't put down, absolute loved it.

Thank you NetGalley, the author and publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

This was a delightful, easy read and to be highly recommended especially in these grim times.
The main character was well drawn and very likable, to such an extent that it was easy to believe in her and sympathise with her problems.
The dual time line (1980s and now) shows Bessie as a teenager and celebrating her 16th birthday and the present day Bessie celebrating her 53rd birthday. The dramatic events of her 16th are mirrored in another set of events set to change her present life.
This was the first book I have read by this author but I shall certainly look out for others.

DNF. I'll probably be in the minority with this one, but I did not enjoy this book. I got to around 40% then skipped to the last two chapters. I really was excited to read this with all the high reviews, but I just couldn't continue. This book was just not for me. It was really slow and I personally didn't feel the plot was engaging enough. Thank you, NetGalley!

A strong and beautiful tale that will resonate so well with anyone in a long very relationship. Life feels as if it is passing you by too quickly and for Bess an event around her 16th birthday has shaped her life
Told from Bess at both 16 and 53 these dual timelines make Bess feel real and relatable.
I started off planning on reading a couple of chapters before bed and ended up reading the whole book.
Thank you for this copy to read and review

In this book, Bessie is our central character and we see her at aged 16, in 1984 and then in 2021, as she turns 53. In both times, we see her on her not -so -happy birthday and share in how the legacy of one time dictates the life lived in another.
Bessie is very relatable and you feel for her, but what completely made this book for me was the family around her; they were flawed but beautifully so and the warmth between them all, even when at their most infuriating, took this book to another level. Perhaps it was because I recognised my own parents in hers but I adored them and this strength of connection was also evident between Bessie and her own children and with her husband and her brother. In this novel, we see that even when people are fractured and distanced, they may have the most strength and as readers we hope and pray that their strength and their relationships are enough...
The plot to this novel is often raw and heart breaking but this is not designed to be an emotional wringer as it is also, at times, funny and endearing. It is about family and friends, loss and love; mistakes made and choices to be lived with; it is about cruelty but also about care. It has people at its heart and that's what makes it beautiful!

Another great read by Amanda Prowse. In this book we meet Bessie and her family the chapters alternate between 1984 and 2021. In August 1984 Bessie is celebrating her 16th birthday, getting her o level results and looking forward to her school dance and meeting up with her boyfriend Lawrence.who no-one knows she's been having sex with On this day her best friend tells her that she wants to be with Lawrence. Thus is the first devastation for Bessie on what should be a happy day.
In August 2021 Bessie turns 53, married with two grown up children, she feels life is missing something going back to her childhood.
A heart warming tale with lovely characters. I loved it

I used to really enjoy books from this author but sadly I have not done so with this one or last few she has written.

I am sure I will be in the minority with this but it just wasn't for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Another excellent novel by Amanda Prowse which I couldn't put down, and would thoroughly recommend to anyone who loves a good book. Features Bess from the age of sixteen through her life ups and downs.

A very moving book, brings tears to your eyes.

The story goes between 1984 and 2021 with two best friends Bessie and Michelle, On Bessie`s 16th birthday she gets her exam results which are horrendous and the day gets worse with her splitting up with her best friend Michelle.

Bessie turns 53 with two grown children and the past catches up with her, she is unhappy with life as it didn`t turn out how she expected.

I just couldn`t put this down and finished it in one sitting, as an older reader I sympathise with Bessie and wonder where the time went and why didn`t it go as planned, I`m sure lot`s of readers can relate to this.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the Arc copy in exchange for my honest review

Waiting to Begin is another brilliant novel by Amanda Prowse...I'm not sure how she does it! In this novel we follow Bess on two important birthdays, her 16th and her 53rd and how the decisions, changes and actions taken on the 16th have affected her life on her 53rd. At each birthday she has come to a crossroads and discovers how cruel life can be. How she deals with things at 16 has a definite impact on her at 53 and has affected her entire life.

Out of heartbreak come hope however, and this often seems to be a theme of Amanda's novels, along with the novel that she has written with her son. A powerful message, especially in today's world! Thank you to the author, Amazon UK and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Another great read by Amanda Prowse. In this book we meet Bessie and her family the chapters alternate between 1984 and 2021. In August 1984 Bessie is celebrating her 16th birthday, getting her o level results and looking forward to her school dance and meeting up with her boyfriend Lawrence.who no-one knows she's been having sex with On this day her best friend tells her that she wants to be with Lawrence. Thus is the first devastation for Bessie on what should be a happy day.
In August 2021 Bessie turns 53, married with two grown up children, she feels life is missing something going back to her childhood.
A heart warming tale with lovely characters. I loved it
Received this book from Netgalley and publishers in exchange for an honest review

There’s always something very homely, and grounding about Amanda’s books that I completely loose myself in them once I start.

This book flits between 1984 and 2021 and gives you the full backstory as to what has gone on in Bess’s younger years, and totally explains why she is like she is today.

Bess is such a great character that I just wanted to take her under my wing and love her for the upset that “the secret” was causing her throughout her life.

Yet again Amanda has written a book that is so easy to imagine and to relate to, with such lovely characters that you know they will stay with you for quite some time.

Another strong and beautiful tale from this wonderful author that no matter the subject, situation, setting, manages to steal your attention (and in many cases, your heart!) from the first few words on the page.

This one was absolutely relatable to anyone in a long-term marriage, I’m sure at times we all feel life is passing quickly and have we achieved all we wanted... Bess has a reason to feel this way and her story is beautifully told by her 16-year-old and now her 53-year-old selves.
Bess allowed a traumatic event around her 16th birthday to shape the rest of her life, her new relationships and even those relationships with her children. She is left feeling a bit worthless upon turning 53, and not really seeing what is in front of her which is damaging the one great thing she has, her family.

Delving back into events surrounding her 16th birthday, losing a friend, failing her exams and being heartbroken over a boy, we are gathering a picture of what has made Bess feel like she has not lived or achieved what she wanted to in her life. But it doesn’t take long for Bess to realise, through a stupid mistake, that everything she has is all she needs. There are some tense moments in the book where you want to shake her and say wake up! But without spoiling anything, Bess’s story left me smiling and thinking about the characters long after I finished the book.

Her parents are adorable, so relatable, with elements I’m sure we can all see in our or someone we knows parents. Mario, Bess’s husband, a wonderful father and hardworking man, yet Bess needs to work herself out of her blindness and see what she has, or she may lose it...

The ending to the book was truly wonderful, and I believe we could hear more from the other side of Bess’s story which would be an amazing sequel!

I feel there’s so much more I could say about this book and the characters that shape the story, but I wouldn’t do justice to the ease at which it is written and the way you read the story which absolutely compels you to think on the things that we take for granted in our own lives.

Once again, thank you to Netgalley and Amanda Prowse for the opportunity to read this wonderful ARC.

When I read a book by Amanda Prowse it feels like slipping on a cosy comfortable jumper and this book was no exception.

I could relate so much to Bessie the main character, I am a similar age and the details in the storyline had me taking a walk down memory lane. I remember taping the top twenty, applying sun in to my hair and loving Chelsea girl. Bessies story jumps from teenage years to modern day and explores the choices she made and how they have impacted on her life.

We all had dreams when we were young and without the experience of life, many of our dreams were shattered. This story explores secrets, forgiveness and letting go. Learning to love yourself and accepting past mistakes is something we can all benefit from. Secrets can weigh us down and sharing them can have such a positive effect on not only ourselves but those around us.

I raced through this book, my heart breaking at times for Bessie. Truly a beautiful emotional book with Amanda’s unique ability to weave a story that touches the reader. If I could give this book more than five stars I would.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for my chance to read this brilliant book.

This is my first book by Amanda Prowse. And i loved it. Amanda has put words to the various thoughts a character thinks. And these thoughts each reader might have had at some point in their life too. We seem to live the character. Though one may think, Bessie was so stupid to be so careless, you ultimately empathise with her and wish her good. She definitely did turn out much stronger, an after effect for her stupidity.

This book compelled me to think on my life too. Very few authors have compelled me to do this.

A good one from Amanda. I am now eager to read her other books too.

Amanda Prowse is definitely one of my topping five favourite authors!
I don't know how she manages to write in such a way that really gets the emotions going but she does.
Bessie is celebrating her 53rd birthday and in doing so takes us back to the 80s and remembers her 16th and how her life has shaped.
One heck of a book
Thank you netgalley.